Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Came back from a loss

Today I started out slowly to test the waters. I was still flat at around 11am. The market did not look like it would do much today. There are a bunch of key economic reports coming up the next two days so traders probably would not do much ahead of key data. I told myself to just relax and take it real slow. Right after that I had itchy trigger fingers. I lost two trades in a row. After two bad trades I found myself looking at a $130 loss. In both trades I held on to my position a bit too long. I probably would have lost only half that amount if I got out fast.

I need to wait for a consolidation on MR. I bought when the price was over extended. It moved up from 70 cents already from a low of 25.80.

The WCI trade was an impulsive trade. WCI came up in my scan earlier. I saw the stock after the nice up move was over. I tried to play a bounce on the stock. I have a tough time trading hybrid issues. If you look at the 1 minute chart on the right you will see how fast it dropped. I got caught with 500 shares.

I managed to come back today despite being down over $130. After the losses I got really disciplined. I am up $50 for the day.

About Me

I have been trading for 5 years. It took close to a year before I became profitable. I find that I am improving gradually each year.
My method of choice is scalping. My edge lies in tape reading NYSE stocks and staying on the side of the specialist. That is the method I learned when I started. As I build up my capital I will try new styles and trade new markets.
In late 2006 my trading hit a rough patch after the introduction of the NYSE Hybrid system. For most of 2007, I have been on a search for new strategies that would help me adapt to the market.